Court compliments microbrew fans

Fans of independent microbrews are likely to be sophisticated enough to tell the difference between two beers with the word “racer” in their names, a Boston-based U.S. magistrate judge has found.

The lawsuit was brought by the California-based microbrewer Bear Republic, which claimed that fans of its Racer 5 and Red Rocket brews would be confused by the name and label of a competing beer brewed in Colorado known as Red Racer.

But U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert B. Collings refused to issue a preliminary injunction and found that the lawsuit had little chance of succeeding.

“While it is true that beer purchasers are not likely to exercise a high degree of care in purchasing a relatively inexpensive item like beer, it seems likely that drinkers of craft-brewed beer may be generally more discerning drinkers than average beer drinkers, and they would be likely to remember correctly or recognize at least one of the several distinguishing elements between RACER 5 and RED RACER,” said Collings.

“Although the two marks share the word ‘RACER,’ the label designs are so different that they do not suggest a common origin or family of marks,” added Collings. “With its checkered flag background, Bear Republic’s RACER 5 mark brings to mind the SPEED RACER cartoon series and conveys an overall racing theme. In contrast, Central City’s REDRACER features a voluptuous ‘pin-up’ girl riding a red bicycle that evokes a retro feel.”